But he, his coach, his teammates -- heck, even his parents -- didn't know if Simien, Kansas University's senior All-America candidate, would be able to answer the bell for the first time in five games for Wednesday's Kansas-Iowa State Big 12 Conference battle at Hilton Coliseum.

"It all came down to the refs' decision, to see if they approved the cast I was in," said Simien.

A soft cast, tape and gray Nike glove on Simien's surgically repaired left thumb received the officials' seal of approval during warmups just minutes before tipoff.

"It definitely was a relief. It definitely was good to be back. I didn't know I'd play 37 minutes," gasped the 6-foot-9, 255-pound power forward, who collected 13 points and nine rebounds in the Jayhawks' 71-66 victory before 13,009 fans.

Simien may have shown a few signs of rust the first half in scoring four points with four boards in 18 minutes, helping the Jayhawks take a slim 38-35 lead at the break.

He came up big the second half, however, when KU (12-0 overall, 2-0 Big 12) needed it the most against the Cyclones (8-5, 0-2), who have lost just two of their last 27 games at Hilton.

Simien hit a three-pointer and turn-around jumper to open the second-half scoring. The 10-foot jumper came right after his first try was swatted by Jared Homan.

Kansas University All-America candidate Wayne Simien, right, battles for a rebound with Iowa State's Jared Homan late in the Jayhawks' 71-66 victory. In his first game back after having surgery on his left thumb, Simien collected 13 points and nine rebounds as the Jayhawks held off the Cyclones on Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

Simien hit another turn-around jumper to bust a 54-all tie with 6:39 left, his bucket following a pair of Keith Langford free throws that answered a 10-0 Iowa State run that had given the Cyclones a 54-52 lead.

The Jayhawks, who especially needed Simien with Christian Moody sidelined with an ankle sprain, never trailed again.

"It's a bit bulky," Simien said of the cast on his thumb that he said wasn't the cause of his 2-of-6 free-throw shooting. "Shooting-wise, it didn't bother me. I pulled down some boards that I usually grab left-handed. Other than that, it didn't bother me at all."

Simien had his thumb whacked more than once.

"No pain at all," said the player who was out of action 23 days after undergoing surgery on Dec. 20.

The original prognosis called for him to be out four to six weeks.

"I took a few shots on it," Simien said. "I took a few shots on it in practice before the game to make sure it was OK. It may have startled me, but no pain, no worries."

All KU backers had fewer worries with Simien back on board helping make up for the absence of Moody, who is expected to be in the lineup Saturday at Colorado.

"It would have been very difficult for us to win without him," coach Bill Self said, referring to Moody's absence. "I'm sure it had something to do with Wayne being adamant about playing."

"I just wanted to try to focus on playing all week," Simien said. "Christian can do some good things for us, definitely, but that had no effect at all."

The Jayhawks learned Simien would be playing in the locker room before the game. Self had talked to the doctors and Simien's parents, receiving the go-ahead from those important parties. The refs got the last word.

"I knew he wanted to play," said point guard Aaron Miles, who had eight points and five assists on a night Langford led the way with 18 points and helped hold Curtis Stinson to 18 on 6-of-20 shooting.

"When we heard, everybody was like, ‘Welcome back, Dub.' We needed him back."

Simien's dad, Wayne, Sr., who was sitting in the stands and had agreed with doctors' prognosis that the player was healthy enough to play, nonetheless was thrilled when his son took the floor for the opening tip.

"We had no idea he'd play. He didn't tell us for sure," Wayne Sr. said. "We knew it'd be a game-time decision. We never thought he'd play 37 minutes. It'd been wearing on him. He wanted to get out there to help the team win."

All four seniors, plus freshman Alex Galindo, played key roles down the stretch Wednesday.

How did Simien make it back in the lineup so soon?

"You know, I'm sure there was some divine intervention. He healed quicker than people thought. We've got to thank the man upstairs," Simien Sr. said.

And Simien himself deserves credit, too. He was hardly winded playing all but three minutes.

"I did a lot of conditioning work at practice, even though I couldn't play," Simien said. "It was important to still get a lot of work in."

But until Wednesday, nobody outside of Kansas University's immediate basketball family knew Michael Lee also has been a member of the Jayhawks' walking wounded the past five days.

Lee, whose inside basket with 6:10 left boosted a two-point lead to 58-54 in the Jayhawks' 71-66 victory over Iowa State on Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum, suffered a separated shoulder after running into Darnell Jackson at practice Saturday, the day before the Kentucky game.

"It's nothing," Lee said. "I got it banged, and the ligament stretched. It's nothing big as long as I don't have too much contact. I might wear the red jersey at practice, but that's about the extent of it."

Lee wore a patch on the shoulder that, he said, helped in some unexplainable way.

"It's got something in it, medicine goes through it that helps it heal, I guess," Lee said.

Moody missed Wednesday's game.

"Christian really wanted to play," KU coach Bill Self said, noting Moody should be able to play Saturday at Colorado.

Langford, who suffered a concussion Sunday at Kentucky, scored 18 points in 36 minutes. His bucket with 7:19 left answered a 10-0 Iowa State run that had put the Cyclones on top, 54-52.

Langford was poked in the eye late in the first half, but he is fine.

KCTitus

01-13-2005, 12:20 PM

I watched both KU/ISU and the NC/GT game last night and Im not sure why NC is ranked below Kansas at this point. They look simply unstoppable.

Not only have they taken to Roy's run and gun but even when they get put in half court situations, they made mince meat of Georgia Tech who basically stifled KU for an entire half.

Sorry to say, I wouldnt be suprised to see NC go all the way this year.

royr17

01-13-2005, 12:22 PM

http://www.kusports.com/news/mens_basketball/story/112842

Notebook
Thursday, January 13, 2005

No crunch time

J.R. Giddens, who scored 13 points, suffered two straight turnovers and thus didn't play the final eight minutes.

"He had a bad stretch. I decided to play four seniors on the road," said Self, noting KU "wouldn't have won the game" without Giddens' 11 first-half points. "I didn't think J.R. was going to be as good late as Mike (Lee). Don't read too much into the fact J.R. was not in there. I don't think there's any question I have a lot of confidence in J.R."

Rookie error

Alex Galindo, who made five of six free throws but just one of five shots, took an ill-advised three from the corner with 1:20 left and KU up, 65-60. He missed, and ISU scored on the other end.

"Freshman mistake. I've got to fix it," Galindo said. "I was scared that if we lose, it's my fault. I had to do something to make up for that."

This, that

C.J. Giles, who had a big shot in the lane to give KU a 62-55 lead with 4:21 left, at times appeared bothered by his right foot bruise, but still logged 21 minutes. He had six rebounds. ... Stephen Vinson, Matt Kleinmann and transfer Rodrick Stewart did not sit on the bench because only 15 can be on the court for league road games. ... KU entered No. 1 in the RPI strength-of-schedule ratings. Iowa State was No. 90.

"Bill was (the players') buddy. He told them how good they were," Weber told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The first thing I said to Dee Brown was, ‘Dee, you can't make a left-handed layup, and your pull-up jumper is awful. And you tell me you want to play in the NBA?'

"I'm trying to help you, but somebody screwed up and didn't make you do these things.' Dee didn't know how to deal with that."

Weber also commented on the mock "funeral" he held for Self last year.

"I meant it as an honor to Bill, but I guess it didn't come across that way. I meant no disrespect to Bill at all. But I'm emotional and sometimes I get a little carried away," he said.

"My mistake was telling it to the media. Bill heard about it and laughed and joked about it, but I'm not so sure he understood what I was trying to do, or appreciated it."

Self ends skid

Self, entering Wednesday's game, was winless in four trips to Ames when he played for Oklahoma State from 1981 to '85. His only visit since taking over the Jayhawks last season resulted in a 68-61 defeat. He won two games at Hilton as an assistant at Oklahoma State.

Home cooking

ISU had a 13-game home-court win streak snapped. The Cyclones are 25-2 at home the last two years under Wayne Morgan and 3-2 against ranked teams with Morgan as coach.

Ames, Iowa — Call them hot, smoking, en fuego, or maybe even forgetful that their big hoss was back inside.

Whatever the case, Kansas University's perimeter players had a first half full of swishes and crowd-hushing three-pointers in a 71-66 men's basketball victory over Iowa State on Wednesday at the Hilton Coliseum.

Never mind that preseason all-everything forward Wayne Simien was back in KU's lineup, looming large in the paint for the first time since Dec. 20.

Heck, some of KU's guards admitted they were so used to playing without him, it simply slipped their minds to make sure Simien got his touches early.

"It's going to take awhile," KU coach Bill Self said. "For the last 31/2 weeks, we learned to play without him. Now we've got to learn to play with him."

No worries. The Jayhawks led for most of the first half. And when Simien wasn't able to contribute due to the lack of touches, the outside shooters made up for it three points at a time.

The Jayhawks nailed their first five three-ball attempts to keep ahead of a scrappy Cyclone squad. Despite shooting 64 percent from the field, KU led just 38-35 at the break, leaving horrific wonderings as to what the score would have been had KU not had the outside touch.

"We wouldn't have won the game," Self said.

Hot-and-cold sophomore J.R. Giddens, who forecasted to reporters Tuesday he was destined to get "wet" soon after a two-game dry spell, hit three of his four three-point attempts and finished with 13 points, but two crucial turnovers sent him to the bench for most of the game's final minutes.

By that point, the shooting had cooled off, but not before Aaron Miles, Alex Galindo, Russell Robinson and Simien connected from long range, helping KU shoot 44 percent from downtown and 54 percent overall.

"We came out on fire," said Galindo, who finished with eight points. "We slowed down and started missing shots, but we just came here to win, and, somehow, we got it."

First-half shooting made a big difference in KU's staying unbeaten at 12-0. Now if only it can keep those hands hot from outside -- while remembering to get the rock in to Simien consistently, too.

"He creates a lot of double-teams and open shots for us," Galindo said of Simien. "It was a tough win, and it helped to get off to a good start like that."

royr17

01-13-2005, 12:25 PM

http://www.kusports.com/news/mens_basketball/story/112839

Frustrated Cyclones blow another late lead
By Ryan Wood, Journal-World Sports Writer

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Ames, Iowa — When will the stinging stop for the Iowa State men's basketball team?

It all set up so perfectly for the Cyclones on Wednesday against No. 2 Kansas University.

They led, 54-52, with 7:46 to play. They had a rowdy crowd of 13,009 fans on their side. Understandably, ISU thought the Hilton Coliseum magic would come back and bite KU for the second straight season. The Jayhawks never have had tremendous luck here.

Didn't matter, as it turned out. The KU seniors slaughtered the Cyclones with an 8-0 run after briefly losing the lead, and that wrapped up Wednesday's game quite definitively.

Kansas 71, Iowa State 66.

"They're really senior-oriented, so they're really smart," ISU guard Will Blalock said of KU. "They tried to slow the tempo of the game down. Even when we pressed, they'd break the press and slow the game down."

ISU (8-5) is 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference.

Wednesday, ISU lost another late lead. Saturday against Missouri, the Cyclones were up by 12 with 4:35 to play, but somehow lost, 62-59, to kick off their league schedule.

In the long run, ISU coach Wayne Morgan feels his team will be better after facing the recent adversity. But it doesn't make the stinging stop.

"I don't think we're far away," Morgan said. "If we can get a little better and concentrate a little more, we can be a great team, too. But we don't have a big margin of error."

Blalock and Curtis Stinson, as expected, led ISU with strong guard play Wednesday, combining for 35 points -- 21 in the second half. Stinson had ISU's last five field goals, in fact, but KU's solid free-throw shooting down the stretch doomed ISU in the end.

If the Cyclones are looking for an upcoming cupcake to stop the pain, they'd better look hard. Their next game is against sixth-ranked Oklahoma State on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. The Cowboys are 12-1 and were picked to win the Big 12 in preseason polls.

It's a brutal start to the Big 12 season, and the rare loss on their home court made the Cyclones all too aware of the conference's power up top.

"They're a really good team," Blalock said. "It's hard to make them make mistakes. They know what to do."

Bearcat

01-13-2005, 12:28 PM

I watched both KU/ISU and the NC/GT game last night and Im not sure why NC is ranked below Kansas at this point. They look simply unstoppable.

Not only have they taken to Roy's run and gun but even when they get put in half court situations, they made mince meat of Georgia Tech who basically stifled KU for an entire half.

Sorry to say, I wouldnt be suprised to see NC go all the way this year.

UNC looks great, and ESPN was absolutely drooling over them the entire game, but when it came down to the "who do you think is the real #1?" question, they all talked about offense. They're all about entertainment, but who knows what they would do against a good defense.

Georgia Tech's also a different team without Elder, which showed against KU and UNC.

Until one of them loses, there's no reason to bump UNC above Illinois or KU, but you're right in that they are playing like the #1 team in the nation.... BUT, Roy's boys always have those games where they'll mow over one team, and then just not show up for the next. I haven't seen UNC much, so I haven't seen them have to play from behind.... KU's new toughness has shown everyone they can win even if they don't play well. I'd be interested to see what UNC would do against WF Saturday if they fell behind early.

htismaqe

01-13-2005, 12:35 PM

Let's keep the KU stuff in one thread please...

Cochise

01-13-2005, 12:41 PM

Let's keep the KU stuff in one thread please...

fat chance, as long as spamr17 can create new ones.

I swear to Eli the first time KU loses I'm going to create 15 threads about it.

Phobia

01-13-2005, 12:44 PM

fat chance, as long as spamr17 can create new ones.

I swear to Eli the first time KU loses I'm going to create 15 threads about it.

Nope - now he knows. There will only be 1 KU thread per day from royr17 in the future.

Mr. Kotter

01-13-2005, 12:48 PM

...I swear to Eli the first time KU loses I'm going to create 15 threads about it.

I'm hopin' you have to wait until NEXT year for that! :D

ROYC75

01-13-2005, 12:48 PM

fat chance, as long as spamr17 can create new ones.

I swear to Eli the first time KU loses I'm going to create 15 threads about it.

ROFL Any chance you having a bad day today ? :hmmm:

Mr. Kotter

01-13-2005, 12:49 PM

Let's keep the KU stuff in one thread please...

Come on, fellas. KU deserves at least two threads....

royr17

01-13-2005, 12:52 PM

Ok anybody this is gettin mad at seeing the Jayhawks thread, I didtn think you would get mad I was just posting the stuff about the Jayhawks on here for our fella Jayhawk fans.

So sorry if i made all you guys mad about all the Jayhawk news ...

ROYC75

01-13-2005, 12:54 PM

Come on, fellas. KU deserves at least two threads....

I agree.... If every Jayhawk fan would post a thread daily, it would give the members something to bitch about and the Mod's something to do. :D

The Tiggers and Mildcats can't find enough material to post about ! ROFL

OldTownChief

01-13-2005, 01:19 PM

Nope - now he knows. There will only be 1 KU thread per day from royr17 in the future.

THANK YOU!!! I love KU but that was freaking ridiculous.

Bearcat

01-13-2005, 01:35 PM

Ok anybody this is gettin mad at seeing the Jayhawks thread, I didtn think you would get mad I was just posting the stuff about the Jayhawks on here for our fella Jayhawk fans.

So sorry if i made all you guys mad about all the Jayhawk news ...

Keep doing it.... just keep everything about a specific game on one thread.

We don't want to upset people by making them go to the second page to post what they had for dinner last night :rolleyes: :p

Swanman

01-13-2005, 02:06 PM

We don't want to upset people by making them go to the second page to post what they had for dinner last night :rolleyes: :p

Don't forget about the thread noting when they shat their dinner.

OldTownChief

01-13-2005, 02:09 PM

Don't forget about the thread noting when they shat their dinner.

I'm sure the same complaints would arise if there were 8 threads in a row about "shat"

The Tiggers and Mildcats can't find enough material to post about ! ROFL
Oh...we ( :ksu: ) have plenty of material...its just all BAD. We keep finding ways to lose, although we've only lost 2 in a row. It seems like 10 though :(

Saulbadguy

01-13-2005, 03:54 PM

Oh..and I heartily agree. Keep all related content, be it KU, K-State, or MU, in ONE thread, especially on the same day, and about one game.

royr..I see you setting yourself up for a big flamefest once KU loses. They won't win em all.

Cochise

01-13-2005, 03:57 PM

Nope - now he knows. There will only be 1 KU thread per day from royr17 in the future.

:clap: :clap:

Bearcat

01-13-2005, 03:59 PM

royr..I see you setting yourself up for a big flamefest once KU loses. They won't win em all.

It'll be funny when they lose... all the MUrons will come out of the woodwork with their overrated talk, because we all know a top 5 team should go undefeated ;)

Cochise

01-13-2005, 04:09 PM

Oh..and I heartily agree. Keep all related content, be it KU, K-State, or MU, in ONE thread, especially on the same day, and about one game.

Yeah, I mean, I participate in the KU threads too. But do we really need a new thread for every article in every newspaper in the midwest? Does there need to be a seperate thread detailing who did and did not watch the game and one each for the updated status of Moody's ankle and Langford's head and Simien's left ballhairs, or if Bill Self takes a dump and they're sinkers instead of floaters? Just a few days ago there were 8+ of them on the front page

royr..I see you setting yourself up for a big flamefest once KU loses. They won't win em all.

When that happens I ought to find every article about the game in every publication on the entire earth and create a new thread for each of them, but I won't...

Cochise

01-13-2005, 04:19 PM

It'll be funny when they lose... all the MUrons will come out of the woodwork with their overrated talk, because we all know a top 5 team should go undefeated ;)

I am really not worried about what you guys are doing. I could care less.

Besides, does it ever matter what KU has lining up? The fans will almost always say they are underrated and/or should be #1 or bound for the final four anyway. Then when the tournament loss brings them back down to earth it's reduced to "well, at least we are still better than MU".

Congrats in advance. At the end of the year, yes, your program will still be better than a mediocre one run by the poorest excuse for a basketball coach I've ever seen working for an AD who doesn't have enough balls to fire the cleaning lady. Yeah, it's going to be a while before we will contend again because Snyder will have to go first. But continue to hang your hat on being better than us. To think, these are the fans that accuse MU fans of judging themselves only by the other.

Go ahead, enjoy the ride for now. I'll see you guys back down here in a couple of months.

Skip Towne

01-13-2005, 04:25 PM

Yeah, I mean, I participate in the KU threads too. But do we really need a new thread for every article in every newspaper in the midwest? Does there need to be a seperate thread detailing who did and did not watch the game and one each for the updated status of Moody's ankle and Langford's head and Simien's left ballhairs, or if Bill Self takes a dump and they're sinkers instead of floaters? Just a few days ago there were 8+ of them on the front page

When that happens I ought to find every article about the game in every publication on the entire earth and create a new thread for each of them, but I won't...
If you do, I'll get someone to neg rep you.

Cochise

01-13-2005, 04:26 PM

If you do, I'll get someone to neg rep you.

ROFL

Don't make me create a thread for you to take your beating in! :spank:

Alec R

01-13-2005, 05:02 PM

I watched both KU/ISU and the NC/GT game last night and Im not sure why NC is ranked below Kansas at this point. They look simply unstoppable.

Not only have they taken to Roy's run and gun but even when they get put in half court situations, they made mince meat of Georgia Tech who basically stifled KU for an entire half.

Sorry to say, I wouldnt be suprised to see NC go all the way this year.

Id agree with that except the comparison between the games isnt fair. They had their full healthy starting lineup while we were desperately missing Simien in that game. Quite frankly Im surprised we won that and the Kentucky game without him.

Which leads me to believe the hi-low offense and incredible defense KU is playing this year would give them a better than good shot at beating UNC.

UNC is a fine team, probably the best starting five in the nation but Im skeptical on their depth. I argued with a guy from New York about this and he claims their depth is the best in the nation but yet without one man, their best man, they couldnt beat Santa Clara...an unranked team. So what if it was the season opener, if they got the best depth in the nation they should have manhandled SC but they didnt. Meanwhile, KU knocked off two top 10 (at the time) teams without their best man.

ENDelt260

01-13-2005, 05:05 PM

I agree.... If every Jayhawk fan would post a thread daily, it would give the members something to bitch about and the Mod's something to do. :D

I wouldn't have to do it daily... a ban lasts a lifetime.

HC_Chief

01-13-2005, 05:21 PM

I watched both KU/ISU and the NC/GT game last night and Im not sure why NC is ranked below Kansas at this point. They look simply unstoppable.

Not only have they taken to Roy's run and gun but even when they get put in half court situations, they made mince meat of Georgia Tech who basically stifled KU for an entire half.

Sorry to say, I wouldnt be suprised to see NC go all the way this year.

Funny, I was just talking about this today:
KU fans have seen that team before. Absolutely shreds in the regular season, only to lose a heartbreaker in the tourney. Roy's run & gun is incredibly entertaining and looks frigging unstopable, but it CAN be stopped. All you have to do is play tough defense, attack the passing lanes, and attack the weak-side help defense. Against Roy's team, make the extra pass - someone will move to double-team... then kick back out for the uncontested shot. I've seen it; it works. MacNamara at Syracuse tore us up with it... Jake Sullivan at ISU used to do the same.

Phobia

01-13-2005, 06:17 PM

I agree.... If every Jayhawk fan would post a thread daily, it would give the members something to bitch about and the Mod's something to do. :D

This was something that a lot of people had been bitching about for a while now - even the Jayhawk fans. It wasn't until today that I noticed it for myself, live.

Ari Chi3fs

01-13-2005, 08:21 PM

yeah there is no reason to have multiple news threads about the same subject... I prefer them all in one thread because it is easy to read... and convenient.

Roy will choke in the tourney. Here is the deal... I see a final game, KU vs UNC... how sweet would that be? And KU Seniors and Juniors and Soph Recruits get extra motivation to beat their ass.

Can you imagine the pain if UNC beats KU... that would be too unbearable. It wont happen.

Hopefully KU can make it to the final game, against UNC... that would own.

OldTownChief

01-13-2005, 08:24 PM

yeah there is no reason to have multiple news threads about the same subject... I prefer them all in one thread because it is easy to read... and convenient.

Roy will choke in the tourney. Here is the deal... I see a final game, KU vs UNC... how sweet would that be? And KU Seniors and Juniors and Soph Recruits get extra motivation to beat their ass.

Can you imagine the pain if UNC beats KU... that would be too unbearable. It wont happen.

Hopefully KU can make it to the final game, against UNC... that would own.

Too good to be true.

Bearcat

01-14-2005, 12:31 PM

I am really not worried about what you guys are doing. I could care less.

Besides, does it ever matter what KU has lining up? The fans will almost always say they are underrated and/or should be #1 or bound for the final four anyway. Then when the tournament loss brings them back down to earth it's reduced to "well, at least we are still better than MU".

Congrats in advance. At the end of the year, yes, your program will still be better than a mediocre one run by the poorest excuse for a basketball coach I've ever seen working for an AD who doesn't have enough balls to fire the cleaning lady. Yeah, it's going to be a while before we will contend again because Snyder will have to go first. But continue to hang your hat on being better than us. To think, these are the fans that accuse MU fans of judging themselves only by the other.

Go ahead, enjoy the ride for now. I'll see you guys back down here in a couple of months.

Eh... it's always been blown out of proportion from both sides. Jayhawk fans talk about being NC contenders, and Tiger fans say their arrogant. Sure, some Jayhawk fans are arrogant, just like any other team in any other sport, but most of it's reality. When you're in the tournament every year, you have a decent shot at the NC every year. It's not arrogant to say so, it's the truth. I read the boards, and they're no worse than say Chiefsplanet in October of last year.

Then, of course, when they fail, there's always the "Ha-ha!"/"Well, we're still better than you!" stuff.... and while it's stupid for MU fans to laugh it up when their team has their own problems, it's just as stupid for Jayhawk fans to then compare themselves to MU.

I've never really hung my hat on being better than MU... especially in the last few years, there's been much more at stake than that.... and that's not arrogance either, it's the truth.

Absolutely shreds in the regular season, only to lose a heartbreaker in the tourney.

Yeah, and that's why it's funny to hear all the UNC talk right now.... KU fans are sitting back thinking, hmmmm, this looks familiar, even though it seems like everyone else has forgotten. It's not like UNC has much better talent than some of Roy's teams.....

Roy will choke in the tourney. Here is the deal... I see a final game, KU vs UNC... how sweet would that be? And KU Seniors and Juniors and Soph Recruits get extra motivation to beat their ass.

Can you imagine the pain if UNC beats KU... that would be too unbearable. It wont happen.

Hopefully KU can make it to the final game, against UNC... that would own.

That's the downside to hoping for UNC/KU... it would be the end of the world if UNC won ;)

I love the style, but it would be great to be the team to beat them in the tourney.... especially if it was in the Final Four or Championship game.

Lzen

01-14-2005, 12:56 PM

Funny, I was just talking about this today:
KU fans have seen that team before. Absolutely shreds in the regular season, only to lose a heartbreaker in the tourney. Roy's run & gun is incredibly entertaining and looks frigging unstopable, but it CAN be stopped. All you have to do is play tough defense, attack the passing lanes, and attack the weak-side help defense. Against Roy's team, make the extra pass - someone will move to double-team... then kick back out for the uncontested shot. I've seen it; it works. MacNamara at Syracuse tore us up with it... Jake Sullivan at ISU used to do the same.

Yup. It's just a matter of different styles. UNC is a run and gun style and when they're on, they can blow out an opponent. It was only a couple years ago that KU looked the same way.

Actually, KU is the type of team that they(UNC) wouldn't want to draw in the tournament. I like Roy and I wish him the best. But at the same time, I would love to see KU knock him out of the tournament. :D